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Take your team to the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship!

By Ontario Minor Hockey Association, 12/12/14, 3:00PM EST

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Hockey Canada giving away 40 tickets to a game at the World Juniors

More than 50 years have passed since Andy Williams first sang about the holidays being “the most wonderful time of the year.” And while the singer may have had parties for hosting and marshmallows for toasting in mind, for hockey fans across Canada the holidays have come to mean rivalries renewing with World Juniors for viewing.

With the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship coming to Toronto, it marks the first time the provincial capital has hosted the event – and only the third time the tournament has touched down in Ontario in its 38-year history.

Hockey Canada would like to send one minor hockey team to a World Juniors game at the Air Canada Centre. One team will win 40 tickets to see Switzerland take on Denmark on Dec. 30, 2014. Visit www.hockeycanada.ca/wjcskills and have your team complete the National Skills & Standards Testing Program during one of your team’s practices. The testing can be completed in one practice and will provide a benchmark for your players skills set and identify their strengths and areas for improvement.  

“With all the excitement and hype surrounding the event coming to Toronto for the first time, we wanted all minor hockey players to feel like they are part of the event,” says Ryan Hurley, manager of the Hockey Canada Regional Centre – Ontario. “What better way to be a part of the event than competing in the same testing as our national teams and then possibly seeing a game.”

Minor hockey players now have the chance to see tomorrow’s NHL stars today simply by completing the Hockey Canada National Skills Standards & Testing Program.

Players compete in the same on-ice testing program that those at Canada’s national under-17 development camp went through this summer, says Hurley. For skaters, that means the agility weave, agility skate and straight speed (forward and backward); goalies are tested on rebound control, iron cross and lateral movement.

“The testing is timed and provides players with an understanding of their baseline,” says Hurley. “If the testing is done three times a year as suggested, a coach can make sure that their players’ skill levels are progressing.”

The testing gives players a better understanding of what their strengths are and what areas of their game they should focus on, says Hurley. “If a player doesn’t score well on a certain test, he or she can get feedback and suggestions for training exercises that can improve certain areas  of his or her game.”

Once your team completes the test, send the results to wjcskills@hockeycanada.ca. From all of the completed entries, one team will win 40 tickets to a game at the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship. 

The contest closes on Wednesday, Dec. 23, at 11:59 p.m. ET. For complete contest rules and to download the Ontario Skills Challenge Handbook and Team Recording Sheet, visit www.hockeycanada.ca/wjcskills.

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